The Snow's Sparks
by Ryoko Ishida
Summary: Euphoria Valentine is a 17 year old Celestial Wizard. She joins Fairy Tail in hopes that she'll one day be able to find her long lost father. But who is she exactly? And what strange powers does this girl have? And why the hell is someone after her? OCxGray (Don't judge me about the title, because I couldn't think of a GOOD one.)
1. Chapter 1

"_Sephiron? Where did you go?" A little girl cried, her cheeks moist with tears. She ran through the flame-covered terrain weakly. She couldn't stand the heat. It was almost like poison to her, and she was terrified. Her father was gone, but it was unacceptable. She would never accept that her father was killed, or that he just left her, abandoning the girl. No. There HAD to have been a reason._

_The blue-haired mage ran as fast as possible, but tripped on a piece of burning wood. The child looked up, only to see a man standing over her, engulfed in black flames. His body was a shadow… she couldn't see any details. But she did see something on his chest. It was red. Was it an insignia? She couldn't tell. But it looked vaguely like a fairy. The man laughed, raising his hand where a spear came out. it was engulfed in the same black flames as he was._

_Her eyes widened, and she screamed at the top of her lungs. The area distorted. It made her want to puke. The man pointed the spear at her back, a sinister smirk on his face as her eyes widened._

"_Disappear, D…..gn….l….er….."_

_His words distorted as the world around her spun. The blade quickly thrust downward, piercing her back._

She woke up with a jolt, sitting up immediately as beads of sweat ran down her face. She was breathing heavily. Ever since she started her journey to find her father, her only family, she's had those nightmares. The man, no matter what she tried. was never able to be seen clearly. The only thing visible was the black fire surrounding him… and that mark. She had never seen that mark before outside her dreams. Taking in a deep breath, the young teen slowly sat up, only to flinch when she felt a tiny paw on her leg. She turned and looked at the owner of the paw. it was a small Exceed. The cat resembled a white tiger, with three black stripes going from her left side, all the way through her back, and ending on her right side. There was a thick, black stripe going down her face, getting thinner and thinner until it hit her nose where it stopped.

The Exceed looked at the wizard sadly, worried. "Are you alright, Eu?"

The girl, Euphoria, nodded and sighed. "Yeah, just a bad dream." She smiled as she picked up her adorable kitty and held it close to her chest. "I didn't mean to worry you."

"Oh, it's fine." The cat waved it off, smiling. "As long as you're okay."

Euphoria nodded, smiling slightly, then looked out the window of the fast-moving train, toward their next destination. "Magnolia…" She said to herself, before turning to the cat with a wide grin. "I can't wait! Maybe Sephiron will be there!" The feline nodded and jumped into Eu's shoulders to get a closer look out the window. The town was fast approaching. The wind blew through the window, pushing back the mage's long blue hair, as well as the cat's ears.

Euphoria looked down at her hands, thinking about the dream. "Hey, Silica?"

"Hm? What's wrong?" The cat turned to her.

"That dream I had… it was the same one…" She frowned. "Why does it keep happening?"

"I wish I knew, Eu. But right now we should focus on getting what we need to stay here." She nodded, knowing that Silica was right. She looked out the window again, seeing the station close by. Smiling, she quickly hopped up and swung her bag over her shoulders. Silica rushed onto her back and sat on her shoulders, tail swinging in excitement.

"Alright, let's go!" Eu raised her fist in the air, holding up her index finger like one of her old friends used to do before Sephiron left. She always loved to hang out with the kid, even though he was hot (and not in the good way).

Eu stretched her arms and legs as soon as she stepped out of the train, letting out a long and loud yawn. She lowered her arms and looked around. "So where do we look first, Silica?" She looked at the cat perched on her shoulder.

"Hm…" She closed her eyes for a moment, before shooting them open. "I sense a strong amount of magical energy somewhere in this town. It must be a guild. Though by the amount of power, I'd say it was the strongest one so far besides Sabertooth."

At the sound of the guild, a shiver was sent down Eu's spine. She hated the guild. Although she made three friends there, she hated the rest of it. The guild was mean to her on a daily basis, which made her leave early. "Stronger than Sabertooth, huh? Alright, let's go!" She said as she ran quickly through the town, weaving passed people expertly, not hitting a single one. She jumped onto the top of a tower. Standing in the very tip, which was surprising to say the least, she put a hand above her eyes as if she was scouting. "Hm… This is a pretty small town… It's surprising there's a stronger guild here. Are you sure you're not making a mistake?"

"Of course! I never make—" She was cut off by the sound of someone yelling on the ground.

"HEY! Get down from there! You wanna get yourself killed?!"

The voice startled both of them, causing Euphoria to slip, losing her footing. Her eyes widened as she fell down, screaming. "KYAAHH!" Suddenly, a pair of arms caught her before she impacted with the ground. She shook slightly, before opening one eye halfway to see who it was. The boy had black spiky hair, and wasn't wearing a shirt. He was also wearing a silver necklace with a cross on it. "Eh…?"

The guy sighed. "You should be more careful next time. If I hadn't caught you, you'd be a pancake."

Realizing what he meant, she quickly stood up and bowed multiple times, saying the same thing over and over. "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sor—" Before she could continue, the tiger-like Exceed quickly shut her up by putting her paws over the girl's mouth as he floated in front of her, her black and white striped wings fluttering every once in a while.

"That's enough now, Eu." Silica turned to the dumbfounded boy and scratched the back of her head. "Forgive us, my partner here is just so reckless sometimes."

"Hey!" Eu whined. "Not cool!"

The boy smirked slightly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Say, I haven't seen you around before. The name's Gray."

"Hm? Oh!" She smiled and looked at him, holding her hand out. "It's nice to meet you! My name is Euphoria! But you can just call me Eu." He shook her hand, and she continued, pointing toward Silica. "The Exceed over here is my best friend Silica! She's an Exceed."

"An Exceed, huh? Someone over at my guild has one too." Gray said, pointing back toward his guild.

Her eyes sparkled, getting up in his face. "Really?! You're in a guild?! Which one? Oh, and your friend. Is he a Dragon Slayer? What kind? Is he nice? What does he look like? Does he like the color blue?"

His head started spinning from the bombarding questions. Gray lifted a hand, silencing her. "Hold on, kid. Why don't I take you over? Sounds like you were headed there too."

"Yes we were." Silica said, flying onto Euphoria's shoulder before her wings disappeared. "I had guessed you were a mage. You're very strong for someone your age." Gray raised his eyebrow at this. "Oh, I am able to detect magic energy in a certain area. I felt this guild's power and was very surprised, and I was also surprised by your power."

"I see." He smiled then turned and started walking toward the guild. "Come on, kid. I'll show you the way."

"Okay!" She grinned, running to catch up with him, before stopping abruptly. "HEY! I'm not a kid!"

**There we go! First Chapter up and running! Please Favorite, Follow, and Review if you thought this was good! I literally just made everything about this OC! Well, not exactly. I had a plan for her before I wrote this. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the first Chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter! I had this story in my mind, so I figured why not? I'm surprised this is more popular than Ragged Souls~! Anyway, I forgot to tell you guys what she looks like, so I made the cover photo a picture of her. I do NOT own that picture, nor do I own Fairy Tail!**

"So you're a member of Fairy Tail?" Euphoria asked. Gray had told her about the guild on the way there. They were getting close to the guild by now. "I guess that explains the mark on your chest."

He nodded. "It's the guild's insignia. We all have one."

"Do I have to get mine on my chest too?"

"No." He answered, looking at her with his hands in his pockets. "It can be anywhere and any color."

Her eyes sparkled at this. "Oh wow! That's so cool! I can't wait to get one!" She exclaimed happily. They both stopped at the front of a large building with a flag on it with a white insignia, right above the words 'Fairy Tail'. Eu blinked then looked at Silica. "This is where you felt that magic?" When the cat nodded, Eu rushed toward the doors and was about to touch it when it was opened by Gray. "KYAH!" She yelped as she fall onto the ground face-first with a loud THUD! The loud partying guild had suddenly become quiet when they heard the thud, and turned to the three in the doorway. Eu rubbed her head, wincing as she sat back on her knees. "Ow…"

Gray walked over to her and helped her up to her feet before looking around. "Hey, where's the master?" As he said that, a woman in armor with scarlet hair walked over to them.

"Master's in his office. And where have you been?" She asked with her hands on her hip and her eyebrow raised in slight annoyance.

"Geez, i just took a walk. No need to get angry at me." He sighed. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted.

"Who're you?" Euphoria asked, pointing to the woman.

"My name is Erza. I'm the strongest female wizard in Fairy Tail. Who might you be?"

"My name's Euphoria! But you can just call me Eu!" She smiled, shaking Erza's hand fast enough to make her slightly dizzy. "I can't believe I'm meeting one of Fairy Tail's strongest! I'm so happy!"

"Eu! Stop it, you're making her dizzy!" Silica called out, hovering over to her. Euphoria quickly stopped shaking her hand so she could get her head straight, then turned to the cat.

"S-sorry! I guess I got carried away!" She sweatdropped. Everyone stared in shock at the two newcomers, especially the cat.

"Say, kid." One of the members called out, getting the attention of the two. "What kinda magic do ya use? As far as I can tell, only Dragon Slayers have an Exceed."

"Hm? Really?" She blinked, then burst out laughing, getting all but Silica confused. "You think I'm a Dragon Slayer?! Of course I'm not! I'm a Celestial Wizard!" She exclaimed.

"Then why do you have it?"

"Excuse me, but can we please remember that I am right here?" Silica cleared her throat, resting on Eu's shoulder. "My name is Silica. Eu here saved me when I was almost dead in a forest. She is no more Dragon Slayer than you are." Euphoria giggled at how strict Silica got, then turned to see a small man standing on the second floor railing. "Huh? What's wrong Eu?"

"I think that's the master."

Silica looked up and gasped, whispering to Eu. "His magic… it's so powerful! It HAS to be the master!"

Before she could reply or even more, the master spoke. "Child, do you wish to join Fairy Tail?"

Eu nodded quickly. "Of course! I wouldn't have come here if I didn't want to!" She exclaimed, clenching her fists. "I wanna become a member of Fairy Tail, and get as strong as possible so I can find my father!"

Master looked down at the girl silently, as if staring into her soul, creeping out the young mage. After an awkward silence lasting 2 minutes, the small midget grinned happily. "Then welcome to Fairy Tail!"

Both Eu and Silica stood there in shock and happiness. "He accepted us… just like that?" Silica whispered.

"He must really put trust in us." They turned toward the guild as cheers echoed throughout the room. People slammed their mugs together as they drank happily, some of them yelling "PARTY!". The two stared at the members as they celebrated gaining new members. A hand patted her back, and she took a step forward with wide eyes before turning to Erza. "Erza?"

"Congratulations! she exclaimed with a large smile. She smiled back, then looked at Gray. They exchanged smiles before Eu's attention was brought over to a woman behind a bar. Looking at Silica quickly, she ran over to the bar.

"Hello. My name is Mirajane! It's nice to meet you!." The lady said happily. She pulled out a stamp from behind the counter. As she bent down to grab it, a chair flew passed Eu's head and slammed into the wall behind there Mira was just at. "Now where do you want it?"

"Um…" She thought long and hard. She didn't think she would get accepted this quickly. She figured there would be at least a small time gap so she could figure it out. "U-um…" She pointed to her left arm, right under her shoulder (like Natsu). between her cape and her long sleeve where her skin showed. "Here, please. And can I have it be silver? Like a sparkly silver?" Mira nodded and put the stamp on her shoulder for a second before moving it away, leaving a silver Fairy Tail insignia. She turned to Silica as she got a black insignia on her stomach. "I can't believe it, Silica! I'm finally a member of Fairy Tai—" Suddenly, a chair shot toward them, hitting Euphoria on the side of the head and sending her flying into the beer shelves behind Mira. Cracks, smashes, and spilling liquid filled the room.

"Oh my! Euphoria! Are you alright?!" Mira yelped, making the party stop and turn to the bar. Mira helped her stand slowly, her eyes widening. "You're bleeding!" Eu looked at Mira confused before reaching a hand out and touching the side of her forehead. She looked at her hand then her eyes widened.

Gray ran over to Eu once he saw the blood. "Eu are you alright?!" He skid to a stop, both hands on the bar counter.

"I'm… fine…" She said, half paying attention to her hand and half paying attention to Gray.

Growling, Gray turned toward the crowd of members and yelled. "Who threw the chair?!" Everyone was silent, angering the ice-make wizard even more. Right as he was about to say something else, someone spoke up.

"It was me." A guild member said, looking down. "I meant to hit someone else…"

"Why you…!" He took a step forward but was stopped by Eu, who smiled at him. "Euphoria?" He asked. No response. instead, she step out from behind the counter toward the man, who shook even more with each step she took. She stopped a few feet away from him before grabbing her keys from her belt and taking one out. Gray instantly recognized he key. "Wait… is that…?"

"Open, gate of the water bearer!" She swung the key. "Aquarius!" Water shot out from the key and transformed into a blue mermaid, one they all know well. Gray, Erza, and Mirajane stared at the mermaid in shock, as did other members. They just couldn't believe it. Aquarius turned to her master.

"What is it, Euphoria?" She asked.

Suddenly Eu's eyes were filled with tears. "This man hurt me… he threw a chair and caused me to bleed…" Suddenly, Aquarius's look grew cold and angry. She turned to the guild members.

"You dare to hurt her?" Her urn glows and she swings it, causing it to wash over not only the man, but multiple other members as well. "Take that!" The water slammed them against the wall hard, leaving small puddles in its wake. Aquarius turned away from the unconscious and scared members tu place a hand on Eu's head wound, washing the blood away with her water. "You alright?"

She nodded and smiled happily. "Thanks Aquarius! You're the best!" After a quick smirk, Aquarius disappeared. She turned on her heel and came face to face with Erza and Gray. "Hm? What's wrong, guys?"

"Where… did you get that key?" Gray asked, still in slight shock.

"What do you mean?"

"Aquarius used to belong to a friend of ours. Now where did you get that key?!" Erza said, making Eu flinch slightly.

"Wait, you don't think I stole it, do you?!" She exclaimed, frowning. "I found it in a pond in the woods! I don't even know how it got there!" Erza sighed and Gray frowned.

"We don't suspect you of stealing it, we were just shocked, okay?" He said.

"Okay." She said. Silica flew over and hovered in front of Eu, clearly not pleased.

"Eu! You went too far! Look what you did!" She points to the soaked part of the guild. "You nearly drowned the members!"

"Oops…"

She then turned to Gray. "And you young man! Put some clothes on for goodness' sake!"

Gray looked down, realizing he had no clothes on. "GAH!" He quickly rushed to get his clothes on.

"Oh, Gray. Where's Natsu and Lucy?" Erza asked.

"How the hell should I know?!" He said, "I'm not their keeper! They're probably at Lucy's house… That's where they usually are." He finished putting his clothes back on then walked back.

"I see. Well then, Eu… Eu?" The scarlet mage looked around, only to see Euphoria at the request board, picking a rather hard mission that read:

_A group of mages from a dark guild are attacking Onibus and threatening to bomb the town unless they are given a certain amount of money._

_Reward: 20,000 jewel_

"Hey Silica! Let's go on this one!" She yelled over at Silica who flew over to her.

"Are you sure?" Silica asked. "It doesn't say how many mages there are…"

"That's fine! We got this!"

"Why don't we go with you?" Erza walked over to them, her hands on her hips. "It sounds like fun."

"We?"

She nods and looks at Gray as he walks over. He rubbed the back of his head. "We're still just waiting for Flame Breath and Lucy to get here. Might as well, right?"

"Flame breath?" The small Exceed raised an eyebrow.

"He means Natsu. He's a Fire Dragon Slayer."

Silica and Euphoria glanced at each other, almost like their having a silent conversation with each other, before turning to them with a grin on both their faces. "Alright! It's more fun with more people!"

The two mages smiled back then the all went to Mira to show her. Once that was done, the three mages and exceed left the building toward Onibus.

**Longest chapter EVAH! XD Please review and tell me if it's good or not! I'm trying my best. ^^ If you guys want a chapter dedicated to her profile (what she looks like, etc.) then tell me, m'kay? Thanks everyone!**


	3. Chapter 3

**So I just reread the last two chapters and saw some mistakes… DX Sorry!** **Stupid mistakes!**

**~Fairy Tail: 30 minutes after Erza, Gray, and Euphoria left~**

"Hey guys!" Natsu yelled out as he burst through the doors with Lucy and his Exceed, Happy. Lucy looked at him and sighed as she followed the salmon-haired mage. They were greeted by some of the others as they walked over to Mira.

"Hey Mira!" Lucy waved.

"Hello Lucy, Natsu, Happy." Mira smiled as she dried a wine glass. The two girls started chatting with each other, leaving Natsu to look around the guild for two certain mages. He felt a tug on his leg and looked down to see Happy with a confused look and a raw fish in his mouth.

"What is it, Happy?" He asked.

"Where are Erza and Gray?" He wondered, knawing on the fish.

"That's just what I was wondering…" He whispered before turning to Mira, stopping her pleasant conversation. "Oi, Mira, where did Gray and Erza go?" Lucy looked at him like he was crazy and looked around the guild, raising an eyebrow as she too realized they were gone.

"Oh! They left on a mission a half hour ago with Eu."

"Eu?" The three asked, raising one eyebrow each.

"She's the newest member! She really wanted to go on a job and Erza and Gray went with her while they waited for you."

Natsu sighed. "Well great… what are we supposed to do in the meantime?!"

"Maybe we should go after them?" Happy asked, smiling.

"Don't worry. I'm sure they'll be just fine." The white-haired bartender said with a grin.

**~Onibus: Dark Guild Headqarters~**

"GAAAAAHHHH! RUUUUUNNN!" Euphoria shouted as she ran, dodging all the attacks aimed for her.

The two mages with her stared at her as she ran, both thinking the same thing. _I would be pissed too if someone destroyed something we needed… _Not even 10 minutes ago she destroyed the bomb, causing the area around them to be very unstable and on the edge of collapsing. She turned and pointed at the men. "Aquarius!"

"Giant Wave Attack!" Aquarius absorbs water from the nearby lake into her urn, then swings it, the water hitting the enemies with tremendous force.

Meanwhile, Erza and Gray fight their own groups. They stand back to back, glaring at the surrounding enemies. "How many are there?!" Erza yelled in frustration.

"Too many…" gray snarled.

"Tch… We must hurry before they bomb the city!" With that said, she requips into her Heavens Wheel armor and rushes toward a group and slashes them down.

Gray pounds the side of his fist into his palm. "Ice make: Lance!" Ice shoots out in different directions, hitting tons of guild members. He turned his head to see Eu still running from some enemies, and sighs. _She picked the job! Why isn't she fighting?!_

"Don't leave your guard down, boy!"

Gray's eyes shot open as he was hit hard by multiple attacks, sending him flying into a wall. "GAH!" He slid down the wall, head hanging.

His yell caught the attention of Erza, Eu, and Silica. Erza growled and continued fighting, while Eu stood in shock, staring at her unconscious friend while Silica floated next to her. "E-Eu?" Silica said, concerned.

"You…" Silca's eyes widened and she quickly flew behind a rock. Euphoria looked at the guild members in anger, shouting. "YOU DARE HURT MY FRIENDS! YOU'LL PAY FOR HURTING GRAY!" Erza stared at Eu as she took out another key. "Open! Gate of the Eagle! Aquila!" She swung the key and a large puff of smoke appeared before dying down and showing a giant, fierce-looking eagle. The eagle spread its wings wide ad cawed loudly, causing the area to shake. Euphoria pointed to the guild members. "Blow them away!" The eagle rushes toward the enemies. Its wings started glowing white and wind streaks flew off it. Whatever hit the bird or the wings was instantly out.

Erza stood in shock as she watched all of this unfold. Eu went from a crybaby runaway to a fierce and powerful fighter… She was also able to keep both Spirits out even though they're both strong. Which leads her to wonder… just how strong is this girl?

Once the dark guild was defeated, she sent both spirits home with a thanks and ran over to Gray. "Gray! Gray! Wake up!" She shook the boy lightly. These wizards were stronger than they thought. She frowned when he didn't wake up right away, and turned to Erza and Silica who walked toward her.

"Don't worry. He'll wake up." Erza said reassuringly. She nodded sadly then picked him up onto her back as the Celestial Spirits disappeared. "Come on, let's return to the client so we can get the reward." Euphoria and Silica nodded and they all left the hideout and returned to the client. After receiving the reward, they headed back to the guild.

**-Fairy Tail Guild Hall: 8:00pm (2 hours after they arrived)~**

"Minna! We're back!" Eu shouted as they entered the hall, Gray still on her back, Silica on her head, and Erza walking in behind them.

"Oh, you're back." Mira smiled, then it faded when she saw Gray. "Oh no! What happened?!"

At the sound of Mira's distressed voice, Natsu, Happy, and Lucy turned to see the group. "So that's Euphoria? She doesn't smell right…" Natsu whispered, then he looked at Gray.

"Oh there's no need to worry, Mira-san!" Eu smiled and waves her hand. "He's fine! He's just asleep. He took a pretty nasty hit, but he's fine now. He fell asleep on the train."

"That's good." She replied as Natsu and Lucy came over.

"You guys were gone for a while. We were wondering when you would come back." Lucy said.

"Yeah, you kept us waiting! And why'd you leave without us?!" Natsu said with a hint of anger.

"Oh come on, natsu. It was one mission." Erza said with her hand on her hip. "Besides, it was a pretty hard mission. If we hadn't gone, she would have had a tougher time."

Eu looked over at Silica and whispered. "Well I would have been fine…" Natsu, of course, heard this and looked over at Eu. His eyes widened and he pointed at the Exceed while his floats next to him.

"What the—?! You have an Exceed?! You're a Dragon Slayer?!" He yelled, getting Lucy to look over at the cat as well.

"Well, yes and no." She replied with a big smile.

"My name is Silica, and I was saved by Eu many years ago." Silica finished. Natsu frowned at the fact they weren't Dragon Slayers but Happy went right up to Silica and introduced himself. They both sat at the bar.

Euphoria watched Erza, Natsu, and Lucy talk for a bit before asking. "So… you two are Natsu and Lucy right?"

"Mhm!" Lucy nodded.

"Oh, my name's Euphoria!" She beamed.

"And my name's Happy!" The small blue Exceed raised his paw with a grin. Euphoria looked at the Exceed in silence, awkward silence.

"Uh…" Happy sweatdropped. "Y-you okay?"

She stared at happy for another minute before scooping him up and hugging him tightly. "SOOOO CUTE!" Team Natsu scared at the girl, slightly shocked at her sudden movement and crushing abilities.

Mira giggled. "Euphoria, you're going to crush Happy!"

She didn't notice Mira talking to her, much to Happy's dismay. Silica sighed and flew over with her hands on her hips. "Euphoria Valentine! Put Happy down this instant!" She boomed, catching the attention of the entire guild.

"Kya! Sorry, Happy-chan!" She said as she set the poor cat down next to Silica, who went over to the blue cat.

"Are you alright, Happy?" She asked.

"Y-yeah…" He said, then looked at Silica. "Whoa! Another Exceed!"

Silica giggled at his reaction. "Despite what you may think, she isn't a Dragon Slayer."

"Then why—"

"Why do you have an Exceed?" Natsu finished Happy's statement, looking suspiciously at Euphoria.

"I saved her from someone." She said, then tried to change the subject. "By the way, what kind of magic do you use?"

"I use Celestial magic while Natsu's a Fire Dragon Slayer." Lucy answered

Euphoria's eyes sparkled. "So cool! I'm also a Celestial mage!"

"Really?"

Euphoria nodded then grabbed the ring of keys on her belt. "See?" She held it out for Lucy to see as well as the other two.

"You got a lot of keys." Lucy said, clearly surprised. Her eyes well on a key and instantly widened.

"Hm? What's wrong, Luigi?" Natsu asked his dazed friend.

"It's LUCY!" She yelled as Natsu was smacked.

"Mmmmm…" Euphoria turned her head and saw Gray waking up.

"Oh Gray!" She smiled as she set him down on his feet. "You're awake!"

"How can one sleep when everyone else is shouting?"

"That's true." She giggled then turned to Lucy. "Anyway, some of your friends told me about one of your old keys, Aquarius. What happened to it?"

"Well, we were fighting and I had to sacrifice her key in order to summon the Celestial Spirit King to help us." Lucy explained with a big frown. "Because her key was destroyed she's no longer able to come here." She looked down, but looked back at Euphoria as she burst out laughing.

"Huh?" Everyone around her but Silica said in confusion.

"Guys, when a Celestial Spirit's key is destroyed, another one is created. It just takes a while and can pop out anywhere!" Everyone stood there in shock at what they just heard, but Gray and Erza calmed down after a moment because they saw Aquarius earlier that day. "Lucy… Aquarius can still come out here." She smiled at Lucy, then took out her key. "Now. Open! Gate of the Water Bearer!" She swung the key. "Aquarius!" Water burst from the glyph created and formed into Aquarius, leaving a puddle under her.

To say Lucy was shocked is an understatement of the century. Even Natsu and Happy were shocked. Tears formed on the edges of Lucy's eyes as she saw her old spirit. "A-Aquarius…" She squeaked. Aquarius looked at her and glared, making Lucy look down sadly and start crying. After a moment, she felt herself being pulled into a strong hug.

"It's good to see you again, brat." Aquarius said, hugging the mage tightly. Lucy returned the hug as she cried. Erza, Natsu, Gray, Euphoria, and the two Exceeds all smiled at them. The mood was then broken by a cheering Euphoria.

"Hey Lucy! Since you're a Celestial mage, why don't we have a quick little fight?!" She exclaimed happily. Lucy turned to Eu as Aquarius disappeared.

"A fight?"

"Yeah!"

"Sure! I'd love to fight you!" Lucy said. "But I'm not going easy on you!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way!" Eu said, smirking.

"Awe man, this is going to be awesome!" Natsu threw his fist into the air.

"This does seem interesting." Erza said. She saw another one of her spirits and she knew Euphoria wasn't going down without a fight.

"Come on, I'll show you to the training area in the back." Gray said as he walked to behind the Guild with the others into the large training area. The two Celestial mages stood on opposite sides of the area, facing each other with one key already in hand.

"Ready? BEGIN!"


	4. Chapter 4

"Ready? BEGIN!"

"Open, Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!" Lucy swung her key and a man in a horse costume appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Ooh! I've never seen that one before!" Euphoria said happily before glaring with a grin. "Now it's my turn. Open! Gate of the Giant Bear! Ursa Major!" She swings the key and a puff of smoke rises before dispersing, showing a tall, muscular man with a black sash as an eyepatch. He has gray hair with turquoise beads in it and gray eyes. He also has tan pants, a long sleeved short, and a poncho. He has a belt with a machete on it, silver earrings, and a knife in a leather pouch. His right hand is a large furry bear claw.

"Is there something you need, mistress?" The bear asked quietly.

"Yeah. Help me defeat them!" She replied, pointing a the other spirit. He nodded in response and understanding, and rushed toward Sagittarius with his machete in hand.

"Sagittarius!" Lucy yelled, pointing at Ursa Major.

He nodded in response and sent a wave of arrows toward the bear. Ursa Major dodged some of them while deflecting the rest with his machete with precession. He swings at Sagittarius, cutting him multiple times.

"Oh no! Sagittarius!"

"Forgive me, Lucy. I cannot do close combat…" He said as he disappeared.

"Woohoo! Score one for the boys back home!" Euphoria laughed.

"You do realize you're not a boy, right?" Silica questioned her… semi-sane partner.

"Of course! But 'girls back home' sounds lame." She retorted, then turned to Ursa Major. "Okay, you can return now!" With a swift nod, he disappeared.

"Wow… she's strong…" Erza said, watching the fight next to her team, the rest of Fairy Tail around them.

"Yeah…" Gray said, eyes wide.

"Who knew Sagittarius could be taken down so easily." Natsu said.

"Well of course!" Silica explained. "Ursa Major is a close-combat spirit. It has a great advantage against Sagittarius when it gets in close for the kill." She frowns. "Hopefully she doesn't go overboard like last time…"

"Last time?" Gray asked, looking at Silica.

"Open, Gate of the Lion! Leo!" Lucy shouted, summoning Loke.

"You called, princess?" Loke smirked at Lucy, his arms crossed. She pointed at Euphoria and he turned to her. His eyes widened and he froze. "You… What are you doing here…?"

"Loke? What's wrong?" Lucy asked, very concerned as he started to shake slightly.

"That girl… she's—" He started, but was interrupted.

"Oh! Loke! It's nice to see you again!" She smiled innocently. "I have someone who wants to see you!" She said as she held up a key that had the same symbol as Loke's, making him take a step back.

His eyes narrowed. "Hw did you get that key?" He snarled, much to the shock of Lucy and the others.

"I don't know what you mean, Leo…"

"It's Loke!" He growled.

"What's up with Loke?" Natsu asked, but no one answered as they too wondered what happened to the fearless leader of the Zodiac.

"Loke, what's wrong?" Lucy asked calmly. He didn't answer. "Loke." Still no answer. "Loke!" She yelled. He looked back at her and she froze. His eyes were wide in fear under his glasses, and only she was able to see it. "Loke…" He turned back to Euphoria, but was cut off before he or anyone could ask.

"Open!" His eyes widened. "Gate of the Lion!" Everyone froze in shock. "Lyone!" She yelled as she swiped the key downward, a large bright yellow glyph forms with the middle having the shape of a lion's head. The glyph glowed brightly before shattering, fragments of light shooting out, then toward each other as they form the outline of a body. The light shatters once more, dispersing. Where the light was stands a fair-skinned man in a long, dark brown cloak, black shoes, a T-shirt, and dark brown pants that match his cloak. His hood is on and all that is able to be seen is his piercing, slit golden eyes and the lower section of his face. Everyone stood there with shock written all over their faces. Loke, however, was trembling. He never thought he'd see this man again.

"Loke… Who is that?" Lucy asked with a shaking voice.

"This man… He… He's my brother… The one who took over the Zodiac during my absence…" He clenched his fists and looked down, his hair shadowing his eyes. "To think he'd actually make a contract with a human… I must say I'm surprised."

The man grins widely, showing his very sharp teeth. "Well now, this is certainly a surprise for me as well. I was wondering when I'd see you again, little brother. It's been a while. How long has it been?"

"…Four years…"

"Ah yes, four years. It seems you've been brought back to the Spirit World, too." He said. Loke remained silent for a good 2 minutes before Lyone turned to Euphoria. "Miss Valentine, shall I go ahead and fight?"

She nods happily. "Go ahead! But don't kill him, okay?"

He nods and rushes toward Loke.

"LOKE! SNAP OUT OF IT!" Lucy shouted, snapping Loke back into reality. He quickly shot his head up at his rushing brother.

He quickly twisted his ring. "Ring Magic: Twister!" He swiped his hand, a huge gust of wind pushing the other spirit back. The man jumped back and landed softly on his feet.

"Humph… Honestly, do you really think that little attack would sweep me away?" Loke's eyes widened then narrowed.

"I'm stronger than you think!" He yelled as he rushed forward, his fists glowing. Inches from his face, Lyone smirked.

"Lion's Roar!" Lyone opened his mouth wide and roared loudly, causing dust and wind to shoot out at Loke, pushing him back and making his hit a tree.

"Loke!" Lucy yelled as she ran toward him.

"I-I'm fine…" He panted as he stood up, brushing his suit off and walking back to his side. "Don't worry. I'm not going to back down easily." He rushed forward again, managing to hit Lyone three times, the third one pushing him back into Euphoria.

"Miss Valentine!" He turned to Euphoria who was under him. He quickly stood and helped her stand as well. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine. Don't worry." She smiled as she waved her hand. "Come on, let's do this!" She smirked, facing her opponents with Lyone.

**~30 Minutes of Fighting Later~**

The two girls went back and forth. Lucy at this point had summoned all of her spirits, and was back to Taurus who was the only one still able to stand. Loke was knocked unconscious and hurt badly by Lyone and had to be sent back. She was already running low on magic energy, but she didn't show it. On the other hand, Euphoria seemed to be doing just fine. Her breath was slightly off, but she was fine. She used a total of three spirits: Aquila, Lyone, and Aquarius. She was back to Taurus to finish the fight, and Euphoria had out Lyone. They were staring each other down silently, not uttering a sound, before Lucy finally spoke.

"Taurus!" The bull nodded and rushed toward Lyone quickly and swings his axe multiple times. Lyone dodges the attacks, getting hit three times but not very deep.

"Tch…" He jumped back, both hands in his pant pockets. Right as he landed on the ground, the bull resumed swinging at Lyone, making him walk backward to dodge the attacks. Lyone's eyes widened as the axe was swung closer to his face than he thought, and he blocked the attack by putting one arm vertically in front of his face and the other in the crease of his elbow horizontally. The axe dug deep into his arm, blood spilling onto the ground and onto his suit.

"LYONE!" Euphoria yelled to her spirit, scared. "A-are you… Are you okay?!" She clenched her hands close to her heart. Lyone turned his head toward the teen and smirked.

"I will not go down so easily, Miss Valentine."

She sighed in relief then it turned to horror when she heard him scream in pain as the axe slid across his skin down his arm, making a deep cut. His arm falls limp next to his body, bleeding severely.

"Lyone!" She screamed as she took out his key. "Close, Gate of the Lion!" Nothing. "Close! Close Close Close!" She frowned. "W-why…?"

"I will not… let my master… lose this fight." He smiled at her before jumping back and turning toward Taurus. Taurus rushed toward Lyone as Lyone stretches his hand out toward the bull, open hand facing him. A ball of black and yellow magic starts forming in his hand and spiraling around. As the sphere grows, the mages watching the match start to feel lightheaded, some even collapsing unconscious.

"What in the world is that?" Erza asked to the Master, frowning. She was down to one knee, as was the others except for the Master, though he was struggling to stand.

"It's a lost magic known as Zettaireido." He frowned. "It's a powerful magic that absorbs surrounding magic and fires it at the enemy…" Everyone stared at him as he spoke, dumbfounded, then looked back at the fight, mainly Lyone.

"Heh." He smirked. The sphere suddenly condensed into a tiny ball, causing a small shockwave that forms a small crater under him. "I suggest you take a step back, Miss Lucy. This attack will send Taurus back to the Celestial World, but I can not guarantee your own safety." Lucy looked at Taurus as he jumped in front of her, then he looked back. He nodded at her to say that she needs to move, but she was hesitant. A smirk formed on the Lion Spirit's face as the blast was fired, a long, thick stream of black and yellow rushed toward the two opponents quickly, hitting its target and causing a giant explosion that nearly blows everyone away.

"LUCY!" All the mages yelled out to the Celestial girl. The smoke cleared, showing Taurus had gone back to the Celestial world, but Lucy was still there, laying on the ground with her eyes closed. Erza, Natsu, Gray, and Happy ran over while Euphoria and Lyone talked about how 'Awesome the attack was'. "Lucy!" Natsu called out. The blonde's hand twitched slightly and she slowly got up, rubbing a couple burn mark on her arms, some on the burns were severe, but not fatal. Other burn marks were on her legs and her face. Natsu helped Lucy stand as the others bombarded her with "Are you okay?"s.

"Guys, I'm fine." She winced, showing everyone she was lying. They were about to say something else when Euphoria ran, or should I say skipped, over with a big grin.

"That. Was. Awesome! That was so fun! Let's do it again!" She exclaimed joyfully, completely ignorant of Lucy's pain and the others' glares until a hard, armor-covered fist made contact with her cheek, sending her into a tree whilst screaming.

"You…" Natsu growled as he ran over, passed Erza who was too late to stop him, and grabbed Euphoria's shoulders, slamming her against the tree in a rage. "Do you realize what you could have done?! You could have killed Lucy!"

"I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…" She started, but was cut off.

"What do you have to say for yourself?! HUH?!" He yelled in her ear, slamming her with each word spoken, causing her to yelp in pain. Growling, he lit his fist on fire and drew it back before thrusting it forward and hitting her in the cheek while everyone stood in shock. "And now you say it was 'fun'?! You could have killed her!" He continued to punch her, giving her burn marks on her face and exposed stomach. he drew his fist back once more, then thrust forward.

"NATSU!"

He froze with his eyes wide an his flame-covered fist inches from the burned mage. He looked at he girl's hanging head, her eyes downcast, but tears were clearly pouring out of them, some sizzling when they came into contact with Natsu.

"I…" She whispered, snapping Natsu out of his trance and making his fire disappear. "I-I'm sorry… I d-didn't… n-notice…" Her voice cracked with every word. "I d-didn't… think… that…"

"Natsu, put her down right now!" Gray yelled. Natsu slowly let go of her. As soon as her feet hit the ground she bolted passed everyone and into the guild and slammed the door harshly. Not even a few minutes later there was another loud slam, showing she left through the front door. Everyone was silent, trying to process what they just saw.

"I am truly sorry…" The guild turned to the small Exceed, Silica. "I had no idea she would do something so reckless… Though I'm not surprised."

"Care to explain?" Erza and Makarov asked as Natsu walked back to Lucy, looking down.

She looked up to them, sighed, and closed her eyes. "Euphoria is 16 years old, has many Celestial Gate Keys, completed missions for S-Class Mages, and has made a contract with the second strongest Celestial Spirit known… And yet, she still has yet to grow up."

"Grow up?"

"Do you recall how happy she was and how ignorant she was toward your friend there?" She looked at Lucy, who frowned at the cat. "That is because she still acts like a child. She thinks everything is fun and games. She never means to bring nice people into harm's way, but she has had a bad stream of luck with that very promise. Please, Lucy, friends, Master… do not think she is heartless and do not blame her."

"But she hurt Lucy!" Natsu stated.

"It was merely ignorance on her part as previously stated." Silica sighed heavily before turning to the Master. "I can assure you she means no harm in any way." She looks away. "Combine her childish demeanor with the fact that she is bad with people's emotions leads to her being alone most of the time."

"But she's so nice…" One guild member said.

"Yeah. Seems she's had a pretty bad history, huh?" Natsu whispered.

"The only one who stuck around her were me and her father, Sephiron. Sadly, he disappeared and we're currently searching for him. Others who had become friends with her left after she hurt them without even trying to. Some even snapped, just like Fire Breath over here." She pointed to Natsu.

Lucy frowned as she listened. She didn't hold a grudge against the girl. Quite the opposite, actually. She felt sorry for her and wanted to comfort her. but going to her in this state would be bad for the both of them.

"So…" Everyone looked to Natsu, whose eyes were downcast. "You're saying this girl has been alone for most of her life because of a damn mistake?" He clenched his fists before turning and running in her direction.

"Hey wait!" Silica was about to chase after him but Happy pulled her down with her tail. She turned to Happy.

"Don't worry! Natsu wouldn't hurt her again!"

"That's not what I'm afraid of." She shook her head and freed herself from Happy's grasp before shooting up into the sky and following Natsu, with Erza, Gray, and Happy not that far behind.

**~Woods near the town~**

Natsu runs through the woods on a trail. _This is the same trail Happy and I usually take… There should be a pond somewhere around here… Huh?_ He slowly stopped walking as he heard a soft sound coming from near the pond. _Sounds like music… She's close!_ Right on cue, Natsu stopped on top of a small hill and looked down at the water. What he saw was a bit surprising. Euphoria stood in front of the water, playing a song on her violin (Requiem for a Dream). He stared at her for a moment before looking at the water. His eyes widened even more when he saw golden silhouettes of all of her spirits (which is a lot). They weren't completely manifested except for Lyone who was standing next to her with his hood on still. They all listened to her play silently. Natsu watched in awe until the song ended, then he calmly walked over to her with his hands stuffed into his pockets. Lyone probably heard him, but he didn't seem to care. The other spirits turned their heads to Natsu, Aquarius giving him a quick glare. Ignoring the looks, he stopped walking and stared at her or a moment before speaking.

"I didn't know you could play the violin, Eu." His voice startles Eu and she quickly turns halfway toward the fire mage. The Spirits all disappear due to her lack of focus, even Lyone disappeared. Natsu froze and his eyes widened as they locked eyes with each other. Tears were streaming down her face, though they seem a lot more controlled. Her face was red and her eyes were puffy. She quickly turned, dropping her violin and bow and tried to run, only to be stopped by Natsu's firm grip on her wrist. "Hey, calm down. I—" His eyes widened once more as he realized the burn marks on her face. He stared at what he caused, then he looked down, shadows covering his eyes in disappointment in himself. She tries desperately to break free, but is unable to.

"L-l-let me g-go…" Eu was shaking. She was scared of Natsu because of what he did, and of course no one would blame her. She took out her key ring, but Natsu smacked them away, making them lands near her violin. If she wasn't terrified before, she was now. She was trembling uncontrollably, "P-please…! I-i won't g-go back to t-t-the guild! I-I'll quit! J-just please g—" She was suddenly pulled into a tight, warm hug by Natsu. Her eyes slowly widened in fear as she tried to writhe away,

"I'm sorry. I overreacted…. I didn't mean to hurt you as much as I did. I don't know what happened." He whispered loud enough for her to hear. Her eyes widened and she slowly stopped struggling, listening to the man. "I just hate to see my nakama hurt… And even as I say that I sound like a hypocrite. But, I hope that you'll forgive me and we can be friends… okay?" He gave her a big toothy grin which made her smile slightly and nod. "Great! Now, theres something I want to ask you." She tilted her head slightly, waiting for the question.

Meanwhile, Erza, Gray, Silica, and Happy were all running toward the pond. "Damnit, Natsu!" Gray growled under his breath. He was suddenly stopped by Erza, who stopped with the cats at the top of a small hill. When they looked down they saw Natsu and Silica hugging. The two wizards and two Exceeds quickly hid and watched the scene unfold in front of them.

Natsu looked her straight in the eye for a moment before closing them happily. "Wanna join Team Natsu?"

Euphoria stared at him in shock. "Y-you mean…?"

He nodded. "You can go on missions with me, Erza, Gray, Lucy, and Happy!"

She looked down. "B-but… why…?"

"Why not?"

What Natsu said froze the girl. Because of her outburst, Silica probably told them that she was always like this. "But… I'll just… end up hurting you…" Tears threatened to fall. She watched as Natsu walked passed her and picked up her violin and bow, then walked back to her with a goofy grin.

"So? It was an accident. You don't seem to understand how to tell when someone's hurt, but we can help you. Come on!" He whined the last part. She thought about it for a moment then hugged Natsu tightly, crying.

"Th-thank y-y-you…!" She sniffled, unable to hold back any tears. She felt warm hands wrap around her, returning the hug. She closed her eyes and hugged tighter. A few seconds later she felt other hands and paws. She slowly opened her eyes to see Erza, Gray, Happy and Silica all around her with a smile on their faces. She smiled widely. These friends, she knew, wouldn't abandon her. She could tell that no matter what she tried, they'll always find her.

With that said and done, they returned to the guild hall to speak to Makarov.

**~Silica POV~**

I sighed in relief once I saw the two hugging. I was afraid she'd attack him. If he knew about it, it would put them in even more danger. Now that they're on a team with us they'd better watch out. Now that I think about it, we haven't seen the man in a year. Maybe he stopped looking for us? But I can't hold my hopes up too high. This team idea could be good for Eu. I can't tell her no. This is the first time she's had friends that would stick around. *sigh* But if things got too bad, then we may just have to leave… When I enter the guild perched on top of Eu's shoulder, I looked at Natsu and a man with black spiky hair. These two are Dragon Slayers… Maybe, just maybe, they could help…

No no no IDIOT! They can't help! They're in as much danger as us now! We can't pull them into it! Ugh… Well, as long as the man doesn't come looking for us, we'll be just fine.

"Hey Silica!" Euphoria yelled, stopping my thoughts as I fall to the ground. "Oh! Sorry! I forgot you were on my head."

I sigh, then stands and brush myself off before looking up at her. "What is it, dear? And why are we alone?"

She frowned at this. "Do you think… that guy will find us…?"

I was silent for a while, before nodding. "Of course, Eu! He won't find us here." I said, lying to both myself and her. This put a smile on her face. She nodded, then we both went to where everyone was partying and fighting. Hopefully I won't regret my words.


	5. Chapter 5

**~Euphoria POV~**

"Natsu, Gray, Erza, Happy!" I opened the doors to the guild and ran in. It's been 2 years since I joined the guild and had been on a lot of missions with them. Throughout the days, I met other Fairy Tail members:

Wendy was the first one I met when I returned to the guild. She was very nice and sweet and immediately understood my personality. Her Exceed Carla was also nice, and her and Silica became immediate friends.

The next members I met were Mirajane's siblings, Lisanna and Elfman. Elfman was pretty funny and I laughed whenever he talked about being "manly". Lisanna and I, though, instantly clicked. We became very good friends and we even went on a mission together. She had to drag me home when I had protected her and nearly got myself killed. After that we became even closer friends since we knew that we would protect each other with out lives. Mirajane said that she was happy I was making friends and not losing them.

The next two I met were a bookworm named Levy and the Iron Dragon Slayer, Gajeel. Levy is really nice and really smart. Though when we first met she was angry with me for hurting Lucy. Natsu helped Levy get off my back and we made up a few weeks later. She seems to be skeptical of me. I hope she doesn't figure anything out… Anyway, Gajeel was exactly what I thought an Iron Dragon Slayer would be like. Hard as steel and just as cold and quiet. At least, that's how he seemed. He seemed to have a good heart, though rarely shows it. And whenever I caught a glimpse of his Exceed, I would go over there and nearly kill it with hugs.

There were others I met, too. Like Cana, Romeo, Jet, Droy, Romeo, and others. They were all strange, but nice.

The last person I met was Laxus, the Lightning Dragon Slayer. When he heard what had happened, he rushed back to the guild from the mission to basically 'beat the living crap' outta me. He arrived and literally dragged me out to the training area where he and I duked it out. I didn't want to fight, but he insisted. I got careless and was hit by his lightning dragon's roar. It felt like he was holding it back when he saw it would hit me. After the fight he started getting protective of me. One time during a mission, I was about to get hurt badly when he came and protected me. When I asked him why he would do that, he said that we were alike in some way… Something about being ignorant to others' pain or something like that… I didn't understand. But now he's a big scary guardian to me! Though sometimes I get him ticked off beyond all measures… And, well…

I ran over to my team and they had worried looks.

"What's wrong?"

"Are you okay?"

"Why are you late?"

"Did something happen, Ew-chan?!" Happy calls me that…

I gasped for breath, hunched over. I looked them straight in the eye and opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted when a door was busted off its hinges and came flying into the guild, smashing against the wall. I slowly turned my head toward the one and only Lightning Dragon Slayer, who was seething with rage.

"You brat! Get back here!"

"EEP!" I screamed and hid behind Titania.

"What did you do _this_ time, Eu?" Erza glared at me and I shrunk even more.

"I-I…"

Silica came flying in, laughing her little head off. "Euphoria made fun of Laxus again and hurt his ego in front of the entire town!" She said in between fits of laughter. They all turned to me to discover I wasn't behind hem. then turned to Laxus. He began flipping tables and sending electricity everywhere. I was trying to muffle a giggle when I heard someone from above me.

"Oh Laxus~ Euphoria's over here."

My eyes widened. Mirajane… I HAD to hide behind the bar! I quickly jumped onto the counter and was about to jump away when runes appeared around me and I slammed right into one. "KYAHH! LEMME GO!" I screamed. I looked around, pleading for someone to help, but all I saw were people with smiled on their faces. They were… ENJOYING THIS?! Laxus walked over to me calmly and picked me up as the runes disappeared and I tried to get out of his grip, but 'twas too strong! "BETRAYERS!" I screamed, making some burst into laughter.

"You have to face punishment, Euphoria. You shouldn't keep making him mad." Erza giggled.

"B-but he really IS mad this time!" I pleaded, tears swelling up in my eyes.

"You still deserve it…"

"M-MIRA!" I yelled before the doors to the back of the guild slammed shut… Well crap…

**~Normal POV~**

Ten minutes have gone by in silence, most people staring at the door so they could see what happened. Natsu sighed as he watched, drinking a milkshake. His attention was brought to Silica who landed next to him, still giggling. "Hey Silica, what exactly happened?" The question brought everyone's attention to the cat, whose giggle slowly dissipated. She cleared her throat.

"Well, you see, Euphoria and I were walking around when some prankster cast some sort of spell on her that made her act totally weird and idiotic. She ran through the town when we saw Laxus and—" She once again burst into laughter when she remembered it, but tried to continue. "S-she… she started calling him "honey-bee" and was all around embarrassing him. Then she… said this joke… it was a really bad one…. but it was funny in…. this situation…"

"What was it?" Gray asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why… do blondes… smile w-when there's l-lightning?"

"Why?" The guild asked altogether.

"They think they're getting th-they're pictures taken." Her laugh slowly died down, but it was evident that there was some left in her.

"So she made fun of Laxus twice in one really, crappy, idiotic joke?" A guild member said.

"And now he's going to punish her?" Cana asked.

"That's not all! She— she—" The laugh started returning, but it was with a hint of horror and shock.

"SHE WHAT?" The guild asked collectively, everyone leaning in.

"She kissed him for a while 2 minutes!" She laughed, then ducked under the bar behind Mira for cover as she covered her ears… 1… 2… 3…

"SHE WHAT!"

Gray quickly stood up, his face flushed. _No way…That's why he was so angry… But… why am I so angry?_

Mira saw the flustered look on Grays face and a big smirk appeared as her eyes narrowed, her eyebrows bobbing up and down. This caught the attention of the Ice Make Mage and his eyes widened. He looked around and saw the guild staring at him, then he turned to Mira. "It's not what you think, Mira! I don't like her! We're just friends!"

"AND STOP MAKING THAT DAMNED FACE! IT'S TERRIFYING!"

Everyone burst into laughter at Gray's reaction, and Mira just toppled over hysterically. This went on for a good half a minute before they heard screaming outside.

"What the hell?!"

"What's going on?!"

"That sounded like…"

"Euphoria!" Gray yelled in panic as he ran out toward the two. He stopped short when he saw Laxus over a screaming and crying Euphoria. He started toward them but was held back by Natsu. "Natsu, what are you…?" He gestured toward them and Gray looked at them closer. He couldn't believe what he was seeing…

Laxus was…

Tickling…

Euphoria…

"Oh dear…" Mira giggled, her hand covering her mouth, as she stopped next to Gray.

"Well would you look at that…" Erza said, stopping on the opposite side of the two. "The great and powerful Laxus Greyar reduced to this." She smirked, her hands crossed on front of her.

Laxus finished his little punishment and disappeared in electricity to evade the guild for a few days ager what they say, leaving a crying and laughing Euphoria. A few minutes passed and she slowly died down her laughter, but it was still there. Gray walked (ran) over and kneels down next to Eu. He placed a hand on her bruised side -though both were bruised since that's where he delivered her "punishment"- and to his surprise, she felt calmer. He made his hand get colder as puffs of cool air flowed around it. She smiled and the wound healed slightly, the bruise a lit lighter and smaller. "What the hell…?" At the sound of his voice, Eu's eyes widened and she quickly shot up, looking at Gray with wide eyes, covering her bruise. "Eu? Is something wrong?" He frowned. She quickly regained her former personality and shot up to her feet.

"Of course I'm fine! It was nothing!"

"But, your…" Gray lost his thought, realizing she mustn't have wanted him to blurt it out. He was quickly brought up to his feet with the help of the blue mage and smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem! If you guys hadn't shown up, I would've been a lot worse! But it's fine!" She laughed, letting the other guild members know she was okay. Natsu ran over and stood next to Gray.

"Good to see you're well, Eu!" Natsu grinned and gave her a thumbs-up, receiving one back from her. After a small conversation, they went back into the guild hall. Gray grabbed Natsu's wrist and pulled him back out before the doors closed. "Geez, what the heck, Ice Princess?!" He glared, but was shut up by Gray's hand that covered his mouth.

"Natsu…" He spoke in a low tone. "Something's weird about Eu…"

"Huh?"

**~Gray's POV~**

I stared at Natsu, and he could probably see the confusion in them.

"Huh? What do you mean, Gray?"

"I mean, something's off! Back there when I was with her while she was on the ground, I put a hand on her bruised side and it slowly got lighter. When my hand grew colder, the bruise healed up! Something's not right, Natsu… she's hiding something from us." I can feel it in my gut. I don't know what's different about her, but there should be some sort of clue. Natsu's a Dragon Slayer, maybe he sensed something off about her.

"Well…" My attention was brought out of my thoughts and to Natsu. I raised an eyebrow as he thought. Come on man! Don't leave me in suspense!

"Well what?" I asked.

"Her smell… It was kinda off. Whenever I was near her, it didn't smell like a Celestial Mage, but of something else."

"Something else? How the hell is that possible?"

"You're asking the wrong guy, Ice-for-Brains! If you're so curious, ask her yourself!"

"I can't…"

"Why not?" He raised an eyebrow in confusion, making me look down. I couldn't ask. She doesn't seem comfortable at all with it. From her reaction 10 minutes ago, she was terrified. Like I just figured out her 'big dark secret'.

"I just can't, okay? I don't know why, but something tells me she's not comfortable with it…"

"Hm…" Natsu looked deep in thought. I haven't seen him like that in a while. If someone knew how she was before then we would be able to find answers. But no one knew—

"Loke!"

"Loke? What's Loki got to do anything with Eu?" Natsu asked in full-blown confusion.

"Remember the fight between the two? Where Lucy summoned Loke? He recognized her. He's got to know something!"

"Good idea! Let's go get Lucy!" Natsu turned around and put his hand on the door but I immediately stopped him.

"No!" He yelled.

"What do you mean?! Do you or do you not want answers, Gray!" He yelled back.

"I do! But we can't let Eu know what we're doing! We have to have her go on a mission alone." I said. If we could get her out, then we could all hear what Loke says about her. Hopefully. Natsu sighed then smiled.

"I suppose you're right. Let's go."

I nodded and we opened the door into the guild.

**~Euphoria POV~**

When I walked in, I turned to see the doors close before Gray and Natsu got in. It looked like they were going to talk alone. Everyone else seemed ignorant to this, so I walked over to the door, about to open it, but I stopped when I heard Gray talking. It was faint, and nobody else could hear it, but I could.

"_Something's off! Back there…"_

I listened to their whole conversation, my eyes getting wider and wider with each passing sentence. I was scared. I wanted to tell Silica, but I couldn't… not yet.

"_If you're so curious, ask her yourself!"_ That was Natsu…

I had to get out of here before they could ask questions. I quickly turned and ran to Silica, who was talking to the other Exceeds. "Silica, we're leaving!" The Exceeds gasped, and Silica stood quickly.

"Eu, what's wrong? Why are we…?"

"We're going on a mission, okay?" Her worried expression turned into that of happiness. She grabbed her Exceed, rushed to a small non-fighting job, and ran to Mira. "Mira~!" Mira turned and smiled. She read over the request, stamped it, and turned to another customer. I quickly ran out of the place, my cape flowing behind me as I ran passed the confused guild members and out the door.

**~Gajeel POV~**

I watched as Euphoria ran out of the guild in a hurry. What's got her so spooked? It couldn't have been Gray and Natsu… I heard what they were talking about, since I'm a Dragon Slayer, but she couldn't have… She was right by the door, though. Maybe… Now that I think about it, she smells kinda strange. She doesn't smell like the typical Celestial Mage… and her actions just now weren't typical of her.

My thoughts were interrupted when Gray and Natsu came in.

"Euphoria!" Gray yelled out.

"Hey, where are you?" Natsu said, looking around.

"She left on a job. She was in quite a hurry, too… It was an urgent job." Mira said. I knew that she knew it wasn't like that. I saw her face when she read the job and by the looks of it, it was an easy as hell job. So why did she want to escape this place before they came back?

"Well, that's good. Hey Lucy!" Natsu shouted, getting everyone's attention as Lucy turned to them.

"Natsu, what is it?" She asked with confusion all over her face.

"Summon Loke!" Both boys said demandingly.

"W-what? Why?"

I sighed. "Just do it, Bunny Girl." I said to cut their conversation short. Natsu and Gray looked at me, but shrugged it off since I was a Dragon Slayer so I could hear what they said outside.

Lucy sighed and stood. "Fine, fine. Open, Gate of the Lion! Leo!" Loke appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Yes, Princess?" Loke smirked, and I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms.

"Loke, they wanted me to summon you for something." Lucy said, and Loke turned to Natsu and Gray.

"Is something wrong?"

"Loke, you need to tell us everything you know about Euphoria!" Gray said with a glare. This shocked everyone in the guild, including me, but I didn't show it. I just narrowed my eyes.

Loke stood there with his eyes wide, then they narrowed. "What do you mean? Why do you need to know about her?"

"Because we think she's lying." Natsu said matter-of-factly. Gray sighed.

"We don't know that. We think she's hiding something from us and we want to know if we are right or not."

I looked at them then back at Loke who was avoiding their gaze. I sighed and stood, walking over to them. "Hey Loke, just tell them what you know already. It won't hurt."

He frowned. "I'm not sure what you're talking about." Gray grabbed Loke's collar, shocking the lion. I haven't seen Gray this angry at anyone but Natsu.

"Gray…" Natsu whispered. Guess he was surprised too.

"Tell us what you know!"

"I can't!"

"Why not?!"

"Because I swore to her!" Loke snapped, startling Gray.

"What do you mean?" I asked, stepping in and putting a hand on Gray to keep him from choking the spirit. If a fight were to break loose there would be no point.

"Loke, Natsu, Gray, Gajeel… What is this all about?" I turned to see Erza glaring at us angrily. Next to her stood Lucy with Loke's key to get him back to the other realm should the need arise. I turned my head and saw Wendy and Carla and Happy, along with Levy. Everyone was now gathered around us. Mira, Lisanna, and Elfman watched from behind the counter, frowning. Great job, guys.

**~Gray POV~**

I growled and looked down angrily, my eyes covered by my bangs. I clenched by fists and shook, but I tried to calm myself. How can he not understand? We're nakama! We shouldn't keep secrets! "Why…?" I finally said. "Why would she keep this from us…? We're a family, aren't we?"

"Gray…" Juvia said sadly. From the sound in her voice, she sounded worried… and hurt. I'm so confused… I finally looked up at Loke and he looked slightly shocked at my determination. Everyone was. Even Natsu and Juvia.

"Her pain is our pain. Her tears are our tears… Her happiness is our happiness. Isn't that right? Families don't keep secrets!"

Loke sighed. I smiled inside. I got trough to him!

"Gray… why do you think she would keep a secret from her nakama?" I was silent. "There are many reasons. But her main reason… is so she doesn't hurt you."

"Why would she hurt us?" Wendy asked, her voice shaking.

"It's not _her_ that's going to hurt us…" He looked down, then sighed. "She's being hunted."

My eyes widened and my hand started shaking. "H-hunted…?"

"Yeah… by a Dragon Hunter."

"What's a Dragon Hunter?"

"Why does he want Euphoria?"

"Wait… don't tell me…" Everyone turned to Levy, who had her eyes widened.

"Levy?" Gajeel asked. Levy gulped and looked down.

"Dragon Hunter… I read about that man…" She was shaking. What did I do? "He goes around, stalking and killing the dragons and Dragon Slayers… But that doesn't make any sense… Why would—" She was cut off by the sound of Loke sighing.

My eyes widened, as did Natsu's. "…What was her real past…?"

Loke sighed… "What her Exceed told you all is mostly true… But it wasn't just because of her recklessness. No… It was because of that man. Everywhere she went, that man would follow. He would kill anyone who got in her way…"

"Her friends…" Lisanna whispered, eyes wide and full of tears.

"Loke, why do you know all of this?" Lucy asked. Loke turned to her, frowning.

For seven years, she used Celestial Magic in order to cover up her existence. Some of her spirits were good friends with me, and they would tell me about their master. A girl who always acted foolish and stupid in order to trick others. She uses this to keep her mind away from the deaths of her friends and the loss of her father—"

"Sephiron!" Juvia exclaimed.

"Sephiron? Dragon Hunter? Just what the hell do you guys think you're saying?" Everyone turned to the door.

"Laxus!" Mira exclaimed.

Laxus walked toward me and Loke, not taking his eyes off of me. "Guess you all figured it out. Took ya long enough."

"What do you mean?"

"You knew?!" I growled.

"Calm down, kids." He frowned. "To be perfectly honest, even I was unsure. But I always felt as though she was keeping something from us."

I sighed, then my eyes widened as Mira squeaked in shock. We all turned to her.

"M-Mira-nee?!" Lisanna held her sister's shoulders as she cried silently, her hand over her mouth. and her eyes wide.

"Mira, what is it?!" I asked, very worried.

"Euphoria… she's on a job with her Exceed right now!"

Everyone's eyes went wide, then I ran to the door, only to be stopped by Laxus, Gajeel, and Natsu. "What are you…?"

"Calm down, lover boy!" Laxus said. LOVER BOY?! I am not in love with her! I'm just… worried…. right?

"I—"

The door opened much to everyone's shock and they all turned to the door.

**~Normal POV~**

Euphoria stood in the entrance to the guild, taking in what was around her. Everyone seemed to be swarming around Lucy and Loke. The three Strauss siblings were behind the counter comforting Mira. And in front of her was the most shocking sight of all. Laxus, Natsu, and Gajeel were all holding back a shocked Gray. She took a minute to take in her surroundings before waving slightly with a small smile. "Uhm… I'm back?"

Euphoria turned toward Loke, and saw him averting her gaze. "Leo…? What's wrong?" She said softly.

"What's gotten into all of you? It looks like you've seen a ghost!" Silica stated slightly loud.

"Why…" She turned to Gray, slightly shocked.

"W-why? Why what…?"

He looked at her with hurt in his eyes. "Why didm't you tell us what you were?"

.

.

.

Eu stood there in shock, her eyes wide. Silica, who was standing next to her, also had wide eyes. The guild stared at them. Eu quickly looked at Loke.

"I'm sorry, Euphoria…" Loke whispered loud enough for only Dragon Slayers to hear. The slayers turned to Euphoria, and were shocked to see her eyes widen even more.

She heard him.

"Euphoria…" Gray reached out for her, but as soon as he did, it took a turn for the worst. Euphoria turned and bolted down the street at a breathtaking speed. "Euphoria! WAIT!" He yelled, reaching for her.

"How dare you…!" He turned to see Silica floating and glaring at Loke. "You promised you would never tell!"

"…" Loke didn't answer. The Dragon Slayers and the rest of the guild turned to the open door where the girl had fled.

Silica glared at the rest of the guild. "Look what you've done! If you had kept your little questions to yourselves then she wouldn't have ran!" She yelled before running to go find her partner. Gray stood there silently, eyes downcast, fists clenched and shaking.

"…Euphoria…"

**Oh gosh I just went all out on this one! Sorry if this is kinda rushed, or it seems like it is anyway. XD But yeah! Three Chapters! WOOHOO! I'm on a roll! Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Euphoria ran quickly through the woods, refusing to stop even though her legs were starting to get sore and she was panting. She couldn't believe it. No. She WOULDN'T believe it. Loke swore that he would never tell… so why would he pick now of all times to break that promise?! She ran to a small pond at the clearing she was at when Natsu found her, and collapsed in front of the water. Her fists were clenched tightly on her folded legs, shaking. Her bangs were covering her eyes completely as she looked down, trying her hardest to suppress the tears she had no problem stopping before.

"W-why…?" She whispered. "Why now…?"

She didn't falter when she heard a doorbell-like sound, followed by a bright light that was shown to be Lyone. He looked at her from behind, frowning at her distress. He was going to kill his brother after this.

**~Lyone POV~**

I watched my master as she struggled to keep her mental satiate intact. And I mean, who can blame her? Along with Loke, before he became her celestial spirit, he had heard the rumors going around of this poor girl's story. It spread almost like wildfire at home. That's what gave him the final decision to become her Celestial Spirit: to help save her.

'Miss Valentine…" I started, hoping for a cheerful reply. A smile. Anything that would tell me she's okay. No. She didn't do anything. She didn't move or speak. "Miss Valentine, please… look at me." I whispered as I placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and squeaked like a dog's title chew toy, which made me grin a bit. "Come on, you're not one to sulk. You're Miss Valentine!" I grinned wider, showing my sharp teeth.

She turned toward me, and I immediately felt even sadder. I could tell how hard it was for her to hold back the tears, because her eyes were like glass. I look down and clench my fists… _What good am I? If I can't even keep a promise to protect her…?_

I look down in sadness as the wind blows gently. "Miss Valentine… I'm sorry. I could not protect you from getting hurt…" I said sadly, not wanting to look her in the eye, even though I could feel her staring at me.

**~Euphoria POV~**

I sniffled as I saw a golden reflection on the water. I only know of so many keys that could open without my needing to use their key. One of them being Lyone.

"Miss Valentine…" I heard him say, though he seemed to drift off while he said it. I know I'd usually turn to him and respond, but if I responded, or tried to, then I would break down. I decided just to say quiet. That is, until, he put his hand on my shoulder. My eyes widened and I jumped slightly. But still I refused to move.

"Miss Valentine, please… look at me."

His voice sounded so heartbroken. I sighed inwardly and slowly turned my head toward him. I could see the sadness and pain in both his eyes an his voice.

"Miss Valentine… I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you from getting hurt…" I looked at him sadly then sniffled before hugging him tightly. At that point, I lost myself. Tears flowed out of my eyes in thick streams. I closed my eyes tightly, before Lyone wrapped his arms around me tightly.

"I'll get him back, Miss Valentine. And I'll make sure no one hurts you." I smiles faintly.

"L-lyone?" He looked up sat me as I stuttered. "C-can I p-please have… my violin?" He smiled and nodded and returned to the spirit world for a moment and coming back with my violin. I took it from him and positioned myself comfortably next to the water, and started to play (Fairy Tail Theme Slow). I felt Lyone looking at me, but I didn't pay him any mind. She also felt Silica approaching, and opened one eyes to see her sitting next to Lyone with a faint smile across her face. I nodded, and finished playing. Guess I have to talk to _her_ now…

**~Norma POV: Fairy Tail~**

Everyone stared at the door in utter shock. None of them expected this. They didn't expect Euphoria and Silica to burst through the front door. They didn't expect her to run. But she did, and she wasn't pleased. After she ran, everyone stood their ground, not moving an inch. Finally, Gray was the first to snap out of it. He slowly stood straight, looking down.

"It's all my fault…" He whispered.

"No it's not." Wendy said, trying to reassure him.

"If it wasn't for me, she would still be happy here. If I didn't ask those questions… then…" He was cut off by Erza.

"The past is the past. We can't change it now." She said calmly, looking downward with her arms folded. "However…" Gray turned to her and she instantly glared at him and Natsu. "Both of you need to go and apologize to her!"

"Wha?! Why me?" Natsu asked, pointing to himself with his thumb. Her glare got more intense, making him take a step back.

"Because you and Gray both did this." Master said, frowning. "Now, go and apologize."

Natsu turned toward Gray to say something but realized he was already walking out. "Hey wait!" He yelled to the ice mage as he ran over to him.

**~Gray's POV~**

As Erza and Master were talking, or yelling, to Natsu, I started walking. I put my hands in my pockets and thought. _Where the hell could she have gone? It's all my fault…_ I close my eyes for a moment before I heard Natsu run up from behind me. I don't look at him as I speak.

"Natsu… Can you sniff her out?" I felt his gaze on me but I didn't look at him. "We need to find her quickly, okay? Otherwise, Erza and the others will have our heads."

"Right." Natsu agreed and inhaled deeply as we walked. I suddenly heard his footsteps stop. I turned to him.

"Nats—" I was suddenly grabbed by the arm and he dragged me toward a forest. "Oi, what the hell?!" I yelled in anger as I tried to keep up. Damn how'd he get this fast?!

"Ice Princess, I picked up her scent. And I know where she is!"

"Mind telling me, then?"

"Well, there's a place Happy and I go sometimes alone. She found that place and uses it as well! That's where she went to!" He exclaimed as we ran. I was in ally able to get my footing and ran along side him. We reached the forest and I quickly pulled Natsu's arm, making him fall onto his back.

"What the heck Ice Breath?!" Natsu glared at me but I just shushed him and kept looking forward over a small hill where I saw her. We both watched as Euphoria kept playing the song with her spirit right next to her. As soon as the song ended, there was a soft silence… until…

**~Normal POV~**

Silica opened her mouth about to say something to Euphoria when a loud, semi-annoying voice rang though the air.

"EU! WE FINALLY FOUND YA!"

Euphoria, Silica, and Lyone looked over at Natsu, who was waving and smiling like an idiot, and Gray, who was glaring at Natsu. Euphoria's eyes widened in fear and slight shock, making Lyone stand protectively in front of her. "What do you want, Flame-Brain?" Gray snickered at that, making Natsu the one to glare.

"What did you say?!" Natsu growled. Gray face palmed.

"We only came to apologize." Gray said, making Euphoria's eyes widen slightly. "We didn't mean to make you sad or angry. And we definitely didn't mean to make you run off. Right, Natsu?" Gray said as he elbowed Natsu in the side, making him jolt upright.

"Y-yeah!" He exclaimed, scratching the back of his head while averting his gaze. "We're really sorry… We were just curious. You can forgive us, right?" He smiled at her.

"I-I…" She stuttered, looking down sadly. "Aren't you guys mad I kept this from you?"

"Well a little at first. I mean, there are already three, no, four Dragon Slayers in the guild. Me included." Natsu explained. "But after Loke told us why, we realized what you were trying to do."

"You just wanted to protect us, right?" Gray asked. Euphoria just nodded, tears filling her eyes.

Gray and Natsu smiled. "Don't worry about us! We've handled all kinds of rough times! We're all nakama." They both said together.

"We laugh together, cry together…" Natsu started.

"…So there's no reason to keep secrets!" Gray finished.

Euphoria stared at them before smiling happily, tears flowing out of her eyes. "Th-thank you… both of you… so much!" She stood quickly, dropping her violin, and hugged the two mages. Silica and Lyone smiled at the scene before Lyone disappeared.

"But anyway, what kind of Dragon Slayer are you?" Natsu said, sparkles in his eyes.

"U-um…"

"Come on, it wouldn't hurt, right?" Gray asked with a small grin.

Euphoria shook her head and looked at them. "Okay… My Dragon Slayer type is…"

**SO! I am VERy sorry for not updating in either story! I'm having a small writers block for Ragged Souls and plus I have to catch up on school work! Gomenasai minna!**


	7. Chapter 7

_**I am SOOOOOO sorry! I was grounded from my computer until my grades got better, so I couldn't upload! Anyway, I finally got it back, so I'm posting this! Though I do feel cruel at the end of this. XD ENJOY! Please review!**_

Euphoria stood in the middle of the small clearing, looking up at her two new best friends, Natsu and Gray. She smiled at them happily. "Alright… My Dragon Slayer type is…-"

_**BOOM!**_

The ground shook like an earthquake, and everyone covered their ears to help block out the noise. Everyone quickly turned toward the same direction as Fairy Tail. Their eyes widened at the sight of a large pillar of smoke floating high into the air.

"Shit!" Natsu yelled. "That's coming from Fairy Tail!"

_D-don't tell me…!_

"Hey! Euphoria! Where are you going?! Wait up!" Gray yelled as he rushed to keep up with her as she ran through the trail. Not too far behind, Natsu followed.

_Please! Don't tell me! They couldn't have found me this fast! I made sure to keep myself hidden!_ Euphoria thought as she ran faster and faster. As she got closer she could hear the sounds of screaming guild members and crashing. A few minutes and a couple louder booms later, they arrived at Fairy Tail. The three friends came to a stop a few feet from the guild, straring at it in utter shock and horror.

The guild was destroyed.

Everything.

The building was a massive heap of wood and paint. The bell that was on the top of the building was now on the top of the pile, cracked and nearly falling apart. Pieces of chairs and tables splintered around, and the wood of the building itself jagged and pointed, shooting out from every direction. If one looked closely, they could see scattered papers from job requests and Makarov's desk. Around the pile of rubble was the guild members. Euphoria made a headcount, and sighed in relief to see everyone safe. Her moment of peace was short lived, however, when she noticed a large lacrima on top of the rubble.

"Wh-what is that?" She cursed herself, realizing her stutter. She knew what it was. Who didn't? What she didn't know was why it was there.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!" Euphoria jumped and turned to see Natsu. His eyes were wide in anger, his fists covered in fire yet you could tell his knuckles were white. "WHO DID THIS?!"

Gray was also enraged. His eyes were narrowed and cold, and the air around him was frigid.

Most of the guild turned to see the three. Erza calmly walked up to them, her face not holding back any of the anger residing in it as if it was impossible. "Natsu, Gray, you need to calm down…"

"Calm down!? How can we calm down! WHO DID THIS?!" He demanded, his voice getting louder and angrier by the second.

As if on cue, the lacrima lit up, creating a projection of a man. The man was dressed in a black cloak with two white stripes on the edges of his hood that covered the top half of his face, leaving nothing visible but a nasty smirk and a few strands of white hair. His head rested on his right fist and leaned on it slightly. Euphoria's eyes widened, and she unconsciously took a step back. Of course, Natsu, Gray, and Erza saw this, but decided to save it for later. Before Erza or anyone could speak, Master Makarov stepped toward the lacrima as the man started to speak.

"_Hello Fairy Tail. It's so very nice to meet you. Well, nice for me, at least. I hope you enjoyed my little gift for you all. Anyway, I'm actually quite surprised at the amount of Dragon Slayers currently found within this guild. I'm shocked to find that you had all escaped my radar for so long. Can't say that now, though, can you?"_ The man chuckled darkly, the smirk never leaving his face. _"I'm sorry, allow me to introduce myself. I'm the man known as the Dragon Hunter."_

There was a collective gasp, and Euphoria took another involuntary step backward. As she was about to take another, someone grabbed her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. She looked up to see Gray staring angrily at the man on the screen, glaring at it as if he was trying to will the man to freeze over. She frowned and looked down.

"_I'm sure you've heard of me."_ His smirk grew… somehow. _"I can't wait to play with my new friends I just found. But first…"_ He turned his head as if he knew where they were even though it was just a recording, and stopped at Euphoria. _"I have to thank my little friend here for showing me this place. I must say, you made me hit the jackpot, girlie! You're more useful than I had thought! I do give you my gratitude."_

Everyone turned as stared at Euphoria, who was staring shocked at the Dragon Hunter. The guild said things like 'how could she?' and 'I knew she was trouble. Isn't that what Loke told us?'. Euphoria's vision became cloudy, but her eyes widened and her head shot up as she heard Gray yell.

"What are you all saying?! She was just as much at fault as say Natsu! ("HEY!") Don't any of you remember what Loke had too us not even three hours ago?! He told us that Euphoria was on the run from this jerk-off! Do you honestly think she'd do anything to us like this?!"

"YEAH!" Natsu yelled, a large grin plastered on his face. "Euphoia's our Nakama! Don't just kick her out like that! We didn't kick Lucy out because she brought Phantom Lord to us, did we? So why should we do the same to her?!" All of the guild members fell silent. Some looking down sadly and others frowning apologetically. As Gray opened up his mouth to speak, Euphoria cut in.

"I'm really sorry!" She yelled, gaining everyone's attention. Gray's eyes widened as he watched tears flow from her eyes. "This is all my fault! If I hadn't come here… If I had just died like he wanted to… then… then none of you would have gotten into danger! You would have been safe!"

**~GRAY POV~**

Something about this scene made my heart clench tightly in my chest. I watched as Euphoria nearly broke down, tears flowing out from her eyes as she collapsed to her knees. I looked to Natsu, who looked at Erza, then looked to the rest of the guild. I frowned and kneeled down next to Euphoria and hugged her tightly to my chest, not letting my grip falter. I glanced back up as the lacrima projection dispersed while the man laughed at his slight victory. _How could he? That man…_ My thoughts were interrupted as I felt two small hands grip the back of my shirt semi-tightly. My face heated up and I looked down to the hurting child.

Seeing Euphoria dig her face into my chest, I thanked Mavis I didn't strip my shirt. She needed something to hold, and I frowned deeply at that.

Here was a girl…

who for most of her life had little to no friends…

and now that she finally had some…

they were nearly killed…

by the same man she tried to hide from.

And I could do nothing to help… but stand there and hold her. For once in my life, I felt helpless to my nakama.

**~Normal POV: Lucy's House~**

After the introduction of the Dragon Hunter, Team Natsu (plus Silica and Euphoria) went to Lucy's house to calm down. Euphoria had fallen asleep as she was crying, so Gray carried her there and she was now sleeping on Lucy's bed. Silica lay snuggled up next to her, and Happy sat on the side of the bed. Lucy sat on her desk chair, and the others got chairs from the table and sat in a circle in her bedroom. They sat in silence for a good few minutes, the only sound being Euphoria's light breathing. Finally, Gray looked at all of them with a low growl, aside from Natsu for once.

"You all… thought the same as the other guild members, didn't you?" He asked with a bit more venom than intended.

"Of course not!" Lucy exclaimed, frowning. "We all know she wouldn't do that! And you're right about one thing…"

"Only one?!" Gray said, but was ignored.

"…and that's the fact that some guild members were acting differently to her in this situation than they did me in the Phantom Lord incident… and they're practically the same deal."

"We all know it's not her fault this happened." Erza added, looking at Gray and then Natsu, who was still seething. "She didn't know. She couldn't have."

"So now what do we do? Damn… This sucks!" Natsu said as he leaned back in his chair. "We don't know anything about this dude or his powers!"

Natsu, you're going to wake her up…" Lucy frowned deeper, shooting a look to Euphoria.

"Don't worry, Lucy." Gray said, patting Euphoria gently. "I doubt Flame-Brain can wake her up right now."

"What did you say ya pervy popsicle?!" Natsu growled, earning a glare from Gray before getting a quick one from Erza.

Gray sighed before turning back to Euphoria and stroking her hair gently, earning a faint hum and a small smile from the blue mage. Everyone else watched the two silently.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"You liiiiiike her, don't you?" Happy grinned as he rolled his tongue.

"W-what!? No I don't!" Gray stammered. He looked away from everyone, blushing faintly.

"I dunno. You've not let her side since we got to the guild." Natsu thought, looking up at the ceiling with a finger on his chin.

"And you've been stroking her hair like a pet ever since we got here." Erza agreed. This just made Gray blush darker and he looked at Euphoria.

"…Ice…"

"Hm?" Lucy quirked an eyebrow.

Natsu sighed. "Look, stripper, we all understand you have an ice fe—"

"That's not what I'm talking about, idiot!" Gray growled through clenched teeth before sighing. "Remember earlier? When she was about to say what kind of Dragon Slayer she was?"

"Yeah?"

"I think her element is ice."

"What makes you say that, Gray?" Erza looked over at him, one eyebrow raised in interest. Gray looked at her before looking back to the bed.

"When I do this…" He ran his hand through her hair, making her smile slightly. "…as well as when she had healed herself when I was near her… she was happier. Even now she's smiling even though she was crying not long before. Why else would she react that way to me if ice wasn't her element?"

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Because she liiiiiikes you~"

"SHUT UP YA DAMN CAT!"

"I guess ya do have a point there…" Natsu said, looking at Euphoria as he crossed his arms over his chest. "But we'll never know for sure until she wakes up." …His signature smirk formed on his lips and he slowly rose from his chair, earning two confused looks and a glare.

"Natsu… she needs to rest. You know that as well as I do." Gray all but growled. He sighed and turned to Lucy with an almost pleading look, though it was too late or him to notice, because as soon as he did she was already chuckling.

"Don't worry, Gray. She can sleep on my bed tonight. She deserves it after all that's happened. I'll sleep on the couch, no worries." She smiled and Gray visibly relaxed.

"Thank you, Lucy. You're awesome." He smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

"Natsu, Gray." The two mentioned turned to Erza, who gestured toward the clock. "It's getting pretty late. We should head home." Erza ordered, not suggested, ordered, as she stood up. She turned to Lucy. "Thank you for inviting us."

"No problem." Lucy replied, waving her hand dismissively.

Erza turned to leave and Natsu followed her. Gray, however, hesitated for a moment.

"Gray?" The Ice Mage looked up to see Lucy. He frowned and slowly stood.

"Right, sorry."

"Gray, you can stay over. Like you said, she likes the cold."

"No, I don't want to be too much trouble…"

"It's fine, really." She smiled faintly before standing and pushing the chair in. "I'm not forcing you, it's your choice. I'll leave one chair for you, though." She said before taking the other two chairs back to the table. "I'll be on the couch if you need me." She said before disappearing.

Gray sighed and sat back down, running a hand through his dark hair. He looked down at Euphoria, and for a split second he could have sworn he saw her eye close. Nah, he's probably just tired. Gripping her hand and lowering his body temperature slightly, he laid his head in the side of the bed and closed his eyes, letting the darkness consume him…

**~Meanwhile~**

"Sir, why did you let them know who you were? Surely they would tell the Magic Council about you, and—"

The man froze as he stared into the Dragon Hunter's eyes, both of them a deep shade of green, as they started to glow. "Do not question me, Cirus. I have not told them my name nor have they seen my face. They also do not know where I reside, so why would I be afraid of the joke of a Council they created?" He snickered and looked at the deck of cards in front of him, all of them face down except for 4, which depict fire, lightning, wind, and iron. "Now… all of the pieces will come together… What will you do, Eu-chan? I can't wait to find out."

He reached out toward the fifth card and flipped it…

_**Do you hate me now? *smirk* Oh, by the way, I'm borrowing this villain. It's actually a character from an anime. Try and guess which one it is~ (eye color is different though).**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Gomen! I forgot to post this chapter! It was done for a while. I'M SORRY DON'T HATE ME! On another thought, I'm trying to get over my writer's block for Ragged Souls. It's going to be a bit slow and I may do a time skip passed all the training until I hit the important crap. XD Anyway, R&R!**_

**~Normal POV: Fairy Tail (Next Day)~**

Wendy stood in front of the destroyed-but-currently-being-repaired guild in utter shock. "W-what happened here?!"

Carla, who is being held by Wendy, was wide-eyed. "Is anyone hurt?!"

"Carla, Wendy!"

The two turned to see Mirajane running toward them.

"Mirajane! W-what happened?!" Wendy turned to her, gripping Carla tightly in her shaking hands.

Mira frowned. "So you weren't here. That's right, you just got back from the mission."

"Please, what happened?" Carla asked, worry evident in her voice.

Mira sighed. "This will take a while. Follow me."

**~Normal POV: Lucy's House~**

Lucy yawned, shifting slightly on the couch in her sleep. She was up pretty late last night with the others, so she decided to sleep in later. Her sleep was nice, quiet, and peaceful. That is until…

"LUCY!"

Lucy squeaked as she jumped up, hitting Natsu square in the forehead. "Gah!" They both held their foreheads in pain. "N-Natsu…!"

"Hey." Natsu rubbed his red forehead as he sat in top of Lucy.

"What in the world are you doing here!?"

"I came to check up on you. We were worried since you didn't come to the guild. We thought you and Euphoria were havin' trouble."

"Right… sorry— We?" Natsu grinned and got off Lucy, dragging her to her bedroom where Gray was with Euphoria. He was sitting in a chair at the head of the bed, looking at the girl's sleeping form. Lucy stared at the two before whisper/yelling. "Gray! Your clothes!"

His eyes widened slightly and he turned to see them before looking down at his boxers. He quickly stands and runs around for his clothes.

Lucy sighed. "Where's Erza?"

"Taking a bath."

"Oka—WHAT?!" Lucy slapped her hands over her mouth and turned to Euphoria to see if she woke up. Sure enough, her little outburst woke her up.

"Ngh…" Euphoria mumbled something under her breath as she sat up, facing Natsu and Lucy. "Hm? Goodmorning…" She yawned. She thought she heard Gray mutter something along the lines of "Idiot".

"I'm sorry, Euphoria. I didn't mean to wake you up." Lucy sweatdropped. Euphoria smiled.

"Don't worry. It's fine." She looked around then down at Silica, and that's when everyone noticed a blue blob sleeping next to her.

Lucy laughed. "Guess Happy's got a new crush."

Euphoria turned to the two and softy shook them. "Silica, Happy, you two need to wake up." Nothing. "If you don't, I guess all the fish will go to Pantherlily, Carla and Lector." That did it.

"NOOO!/DON'T GIVE IT TO THAT CRAZED FAN-CAT!" The both yelled simultaneously, Silica a bit more agitated. Euphoria laughed, earning slight confused looks from the cats.

"Hey, Euphoria?" She turned to Lucy. "How do you know Lector? He's a member of Sabertooth, isn't he?"

"Mhm. I'm good friends with Sting and Rogue."

"But how?! They're good-for-nothing Sabers!" Natsu growled.

"They're nice once you get to know them…" Euphoria frowned and looked down. "But Minerva and everyone else… they always hurt me. Sting and Rogue tried to protect me most of the time, but when they were on a mission one day…" Euphoria slowly moved down her left glove all the way to her wrist. Natsu and Lucy froze, their eyes widening in shock and horror. Gray looked over after he finished putting on his clothes. His eyes filled with pure rage. The glove covered a thick, ragged scar as long as the glove itself, right under her Fairy Tail insignia.

It was at this point where Erza decided to return in her usual armor and her hair drying. "Alright. Now that we're all awake, let's head to the—" Erza froze, looking at the scar.

"We were at the guild for three months." Silica continued. "After that attack, we left and came here. We left a letter at our old house for Sting and Rogue once they came back. We told them not to look for us."

"But why…"

"Would they do that? I dunno… I guess it's because I got too close to their Dragon Slayers… They thought it was dangerous…"

Gray growled, but before he could do anything, Erza stepped forward. "Let's go to the guild." They nodded and Euphoria fixed her glove.

"Um… Can you keep this a secret?" Euphoria asked sheepishly, looking down at her fists, clenching the blanket. Gray walked up as Natsu was about to talk, and put a hand on her shoulder. He increased the temperature in his hand to help her calm down.

"We'll keep it between us." Gray promised, making her smile happily.

"You liiiiike her~"

.

.

.

"Gray… NO DON'T!"

"HAPPY!"

"MY WINDOW!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

**~Normal POV: New Fairy Tail~**

"Oh no… So this Dragon Hunter's going around killing Dragon Slayers?!" Wendy gasped. Mirajane told her and Carla everything about what happened at the guild, and their newest member.

Mira nodded. "Please be careful… You have no idea what they're capable of."

Wendy and Carla, with determined looks, nodded.

"Now, master said that he doesn't want any Dragon Slayers to be alone. So when Team Natsu comes, you're to stick with them at all times."

"I understand."

"Good."

**Normal POV: City~**

"Guys…?"

"Hm?" They turned to Euphoria.

"…Where are we going? There's no more Fairy Tail, remember? I destroyed it… I— ow!" Euphoria winced as Gray smacked her upside the head. She rubbed her head and looked at Gray.

"YOU didn't destroy the guild. The Dragon Hunter did." Gray said matter-of-factly. "Don't go blaming yourself for something that you didn't do."

"But I led him here! It's my fault! All of it!" She stopped walking and looked at them sadly. They stopped and turned back to her.

"Eu…" Silica looked up and frowned at her friend.

Euphoria sniffled and clenched her fists tighter.

"Eu—" Gray took a step toward her only to be tackled to the ground by Natsu. "What the hell Flame-Breath?!"

"Natsu! Gray!" They turned to Erza, who was staring up in the sky. They all looked up and saw a man with long black hair and bright red eyes. His torso is covered by what look to be bandages, but are actually armor, covering from the top of his nose down, leaving only his left arm uncovered. his left arm has black tattoos in the shape of dragons, and he has black baggy pants. He carried a thin black sword with a swastica (butchered that) symbol for the guard.

"Who the hell is that?!" Gray asked as he and Natsu got up. Gray chanced a look at Euphoria and saw that she was scared. He turned to where Natsu had been standing before knocking him to the ground only to see the ground destroyed. That look on her face, and the fact that Natsu was targeted, meant only one thing. "That man… He's one of the Dragon Hunters!"

The man rushed toward Natsu, and Erza quickly stood between them. "Requip!" She yelled, before glowing brightly and changing into a silver dress with two sets of wings and two swords. "Heaven's Wheel!" She rushed toward the man and swing both swords toward him. He quickly blocked with his sword and they were both locked.

"Fire Dragon ROAR!" Natsu yelled as he fired the attack at the man. The man quickly jumped away and Erza moved quickly, but got burned. "Erza!"

"Ngh!" Erza winced. Looking forward, her eyes widened as the attacker sent a large wave of red and black energy at her. She was about to transform and move, but if she did that the city would be hit. Growling, the attack connected and her armor was destroyed.

"ERZA!" Natsu screamed. Silica rushed toward her with her wings out and caught her before she hit the ground. Silica slowly lowered her onto the ground where Gray and Natsu joined her.

"Erza! Wake up!" Gray yelled.

**~Gray POV: City~**

"Erza! Erza!" I yelled as I shook her harder and harder. _How… how cans that man's magic be able to destroy her armor and knock her out so quickly?!_ I grabbed Erza quickly and jumped back from another attack, which left a large crack in the earth. I looked to Natsu. "Oi, be careful! This guy's out to get you and Euphoria!"

"Right! He said.

"Eu!" I turned to Euphoria, breaking her from her trance. "Be careul! Stay back, Natsu'll take care of it!"

"B-but!" She said, looking at the fight, then at me. She finally ran over to us and stood next to me. I stood held her close, moving her behind me slightly.

"Fire Dragon ROAR!" Natsu attacked the man, who dodged with a small burn.

"Damn… This guy's good." _If we can't beat him, he'll take Eu… Come on, Natsu…_ Suddenly, the man's sword shot another wave of energy at Natsu, who jumped away with a deep cut on his arm. "NATSU!"

**~Euphoria POV: City~**

_Th-this man… he's so strong… Natsu won't be able to beat that attack. But then… if he can't… then everyone will…_ I turned to Gray, then Erza, then to Natsu who, despite his injury, kept on fighting. He's gotten multiple good hits on the guy by now. He's got multiple burns, especially on the unprotected arm. My eyes widened in realization. _Of course! His armor! It's protecting him from the burns! If I can get that armor off, then he's a perfect target!_ I stood up straight and ran toward the two who were now on the rooftops.

"Eu! Stay back!" I heard Gray yell, but I had to ignore him. I quickly ran toward Natsu.

"Wing Attack!" Natsu yelled.

"Useless." The man said as he blocked the attack with his armored arm, then punched Natsu square in the chest, making him double over in pain. "You Dragon Slayers… are useless." He kicked Natsu and sen him into the building next to him. "Now… die." He raised his sword as it gathered red and black energy.

I ran in between Natsu and the man, my back to Natsu, and inhaled sharply. "Ice Dragon…"

The man's eyes widened as the temperature dropped and a large glyph formed on front of my mouth.

"ROAR!" I opened my mouth wide and a large beam of white-blue ice shot from my mouth and engulfed the man as he crossed him arms in front of him. I could tell Natsu and Gray were staring wide-eyed at me, but I didn't care. Ice slowly spread on the house the man was on where it touched the beam.

I breathed heavily as the roar ended, and the man was encased in ice. The ice started to crack, and after a moment the man broke free, enraged.

"You will pay for that, Dragon Slayer!" He growled and raised his sword. He froze. His eyes wide. His armor cracked, the crack growing larger and larger, before eventually breaking into a million pieces. I smiled then turned to Natsu.

"Natsu!" He snapped out of it and grinned.

"I'm all fired up!" He yelled before jumping in front of him. "Fire Dragon ROAR!" He shot fire point blank at the man, who fell off the roof, covered in burns and pieces of non-melted ice.

I smiled happily as Gray and Natsu came over. "So…" Natsu started.

I nodded. "My dragon element is ice."

Natsu nodded a couple times before taking out 500 jewel and giving it to Gray with a scowl. I blinked a couple times as Gray smiled widely. "You bet?"

"I said you were the Ice Dragon Slayer, so we made a bet."

"What did you say, Natsu?"

"I thought you were water." He grumbled.

"Ahh… no." I laughed.

"Natsu! Gray! Erza!" I heard a voice and turned to see a girl with pigtails.

"Hey Wendy!" Natsu waved. Wendy stopped in front of them, looking at any wounds, then stopped short seeing Erza.

"Oh no! W-what happened?! I saw fire a-and ice…"

"Erza's got multiple cuts and burns. Do you think you can take care of her?" Natsu asked as Erza's body was laid on the ground. Wendy nodded sharply and knelt at her side. She put her hands over the unconscious mage and a green light appeared around her hands as she healed her. I smiled and thanked her before turning to the others.

"So… He was a Dragon Hunter, huh?" Gray frowned. I nodded sadly and looked down.

"He was one of his men to try and kill me before and during my time at Sabertooth… I'm just happy I was able to keep Rogue and his group from being targeted. For now, at least…" I started to tear up. "Everyone, I… I'm so sorry…!" I covered my face with my hands as the tears flowed down my face. My cheeks heated up in embarrassment and sadness. "I didn't mean to drag anyone into this… I'm so—" I was cut off when I felt cool arms wrap around me and hold me close to a bare chest. Wait… bare chest? Cool arms?

I looked up slightly from my position, tears frosting over slightly, and came face-to-face with Gray… with no shirt. "G-Gray…"

"It's not your fault. Like I said before, you didn't destroy the guild, and we don't blame you for any of this. Just… stop crying." He said as he looked away with his cheeks a light shade of pink. I could tell he felt slightly weird with saying that, and that made me giggle. "What's so funny?" He asked in a mock-annoying tone. I looked at him, wiping my tears form my cheeks, and poked his chest. He blinked and looked down. "GAH! DAMMIT, AGAIN?!" He screamed and searched for his shirt while stripping his pants.

"Eu-chan, Natu-kun." Wendy said, and I turned to her. "Ah, it's okay if I call you Eu-chan, right?"

"Hm? Of course!" I smiled and pat her head. "So what's up?"

"Oh, Erza's going to be just fine. She wasn't hurt too much. Her head was hit pretty bad so it knocked her unconscious." Wendy explained, and Natsu sighed in relief.

"Thanks, Wendy-chan!" I smiled.

"Anyway, let's return to the guild."

"Huh? But the guild was destroyed…?"

"Nah," Gray waved his hand, "The guild I'm talking about is a temporary space. We made it the last time the guild was destroyed."

"Oh…" I said, before turning and trying to pick up Erza… my physical strength is lacking. Maybe I can… nope… Well, Natsu took care of that. I followed the others as we headed for the New Fairy Tail.


End file.
